An Evening with Charles Handy

(see event photos here)

On Thursday 28th June one of world’s most respected business thinkers, organisational theorists and social philosophers, Charles Handy, took to the stage in Dublin at the Mansion House Round Room, to give a fascinating and informative presentation to over 500 people on The Changing Shape of Work and Home. Since the early 1980s, Handy has an impressive track record of predicting future trends and changes in organizational structures, workplace practices and personal lifestyles – correctly predicting that for most men and women their lives in the 21st century would be a complex mix of paid work, voluntary activities, study, and work in the home with many people having two or more paid sources of work. Coining the phrase ‘portfolio worker’ to describe this phenomenon he also anticipated the demise of large hierarchical organisations and their replacement with the more loosely structured federated global enterprises which he referred to as ‘shamrock organisations’.

Author of over 20 books which have sold close to 2 million copies worldwide and his book ‘Understanding Organisations’ is a classic textbook in the field. Now more than ever Handy’s ideas have resonance for people struggling to balance their complex lives in the turbulence of the economic crisis we find ourselves in. The event was a rare and exclusive chance to hear one of the world’s foremost thinkers and writers offer his insights on today’s most challenging dilemmas for individuals, organisations and society.

All attending received a free copy of his autobiography ‘Myself and Other More Important Matters’. The event was hosted by Relationships Ireland and Handy’s connection to us is through his uncle Maurice Handy, a Church of Ireland Canon, who was one of the founders of Relationships Ireland in 1962.

About Charles Handy

Charles Handy is the internationally renowned broadcaster, writer and business guru. Handy’s main concern is the implication for society, and for individuals, of the dramatic changes which technology, demography and economics are bringing to the workplace and to all our lives. His books on these themes, which he started writing in 1975, have sold over one million copies around the world. Born in Kildare in 1932, the son of an Archdeacon, Charles Handy has worked for Shell International, co-founded the London Business School before serving at Windsor Castle where his work focused particularly on ethics and values in society. He holds honorary Doctorates and Fellowships from thirteen British Universities, most recently from Trinity College, Dublin. He was appointed CBE in 2000 and is well known for his ‘Thought for The Day’ on the BBC’s Radio Today programme.

“The companies that survive the longest are the ones that workout what they uniquely can give to the world, not just growth or money, but their excellence, their respect for others, or their ability to make people happy. Some call those things a soul.” - Charles Handy

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